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Melissa Photographed at Tony Ward Studio on March 3, 2010

Posted by Melissa Norbeck

The Fag Hag

Why has the term “fag hag” become the label for straight women who have gay male friendships in our culture? And why does the name “fag hag” have such a negative undertone?

The word fag came from the word faggot which was used as a derogatory term to degrade gay men. During the Middle Ages when witches were burned to the stake, it was thought that gay men were thrown into the fire like a bundle of sticks. It derives from Old French, possibly going back to the Greeks, and the Italian diminutive faggotte from the Latin facus “bundle”. The first known published use of the word “faggot” or “fag” referring to a male homosexual appeared in 1914 in the United States. The word hag is used to describe an ugly, older woman. The two words used together were thought to be very derogatory. Many years ago, to be an ugly woman who hung out with faggots was not thought to be a good thing. As time progressed, the term “fag hag” grew and became more popular. “Fag hag” is a slang term for a woman who enjoys the companionship of gay men. Gay men and fag hags often a share very close friendships. It is this friendship that is the staple of the fag hag relationship.

I think such strong bonds have been created between women and gay men because of the commonalities they share. And women tend to be less judgmental of gay men’s lives. Interestingly enough, some new terms have been created to describe women who have gay male friends: “fruit fly,” “queer dear,” and “fairy godmother”. Society has the habit of putting labels on almost everything and everyone. As far as living the gay lifestyle goes, I would have to guess that so far this must be the best time to be a gay man in America with all the openness and freedom they now have. Unfortunately, there is still a part of society who’s not comfortable with homosexuals and the women who call those men friends. People who don’t understand something tend to judge and call it wrong instead of opening their minds and hearts.

1947 Delahaye 135MS, By Figoni & Falashci

……….To learn more about Michael Furman’s car photography, log on to www.CoachbuiltPress.com.

Alejandra Guerrero, Los Angeles 3-10-10

……….Just before an important meeting to take place at the W Hotel in Westwood, with television executives regarding a pending project involving Tony Ward Productions, LLC, TW and his stylist/assistant Alejandra Guerrero decided to play “dress up” in his hotel room and take photos. TW was so impressed with Ms. Guerrero’s creative abilities that he invited her to the meeting and encouraged her to wear the outfit they selected for the above photo. Ms. Guerrero elected to tone it down a bit for the meeting. Word has it that the talk’s went very well………

Bobbi Starr: 3-09-10 Los Angeles

………..When adult film actresses Bobbi Starr and Amy Brooke arrived on set in Los Angeles, to shoot their scene’s for TW’s latest adult film production for Private Media Group, he thought they were site manager’s for the large mansion that was rented to shoot the scene. They were totally unassuming, polite, down to earth and very girl next door. When they performed their scene’s however, with porn studs “Mr. Pete” and Chicago native LT, it was almost as if they transformed in to another person. They definitely transformed LT and Mr. Pete.

TW Shoot's Adult Actress Amy Brooke

…….More to follow shortly……………

After The Shoot: TW And Alejandra Guerrero

……….Behind the scenes photos by Alejandra Guerrero.

Dutch Beauty

THE ART OF FEASTING
Posted by Mashed Up

What would happen if we human beings were not restricted? The absence of restriction would leave us with complete freedom. However, this freedom would then lose its value. We know what freedom is because we know the definition of a restriction. We appreciate freedom because we know what it feels like to be limited. But when do we feel restricted? For most of us it means that we cannot spend our time in a way we want, and generally speaking we tend to say that we are free in the evenings and weekends as we have obligations such as work during the week.

Club Life

We say things such as: “I am looking forward to the weekend” and “I am free at six”. We are eager to do something nice in the weekend because we think that our free time is valuable. We say for example, “I feel like doing something nice” or “I want to do something nice” and we go and look for it at places that provide us with ” that certain something nice”.

Free At Six

A party is a social gathering for pleasure and amusement. But what actually happens when we enter a well organized party? The music, lights and decoration will immediately appeal to our senses. We see lights, dancers and faces. We hear music and the interior and decoration surrounds us in shape. We arrive here and become a part of a different world and a different context.

Photos By Eric Soenens

……. To learn more about Mashed Up log on to www.mashedup.nl

Studio Portrait

Posted by Melissa Norbeck

……….So I visited Tony Ward Studio the other day, the actual place, not the virtual site. I had my second photo shoot with TW. I met his very lovely assistant, Colette; she couldn’t have been sweeter. Let me take you back for a second. Not sure if Tony even remembers this, but I met him years ago, probably about eight years ago or so. He asked to shoot me, but since I wouldn’t shoot erotica, I declined.

This past October, I was at a Halloween party having a conversation with a guy about all different things, like work and so on. Knowing that I am an English teacher, the guy asked me when is it appropriate to use the comma and the apostrophe. This guy was Tony Ward. He had just recently launched his new website and wanted to make sure his grammar and punctuation were tight. It is a pretty funny story because there I was drinking and chilling at a party explaining conjunctive adverbs – good times! Since then I have written a few blogs and posed for him twice (with clothes on of course). TW has a high level of professionalism and is very talented; I look forward to shooting with him again and continuing as part of the TonyWardStudio team.

Melissa is wearing, jeans by Younique, Shirt by Guess.

The Trickle Down Theory

Posted by Meredith Edlow

……….What inspired me to do this work was needing a change from the usual. I grew up shooting digital photography. I didn’t do work in a dark room. I shoot pictures, upload images, make corrections on a computer, if things don’t work out with corrections you can press undo. The work was very robotic. I needed to do something more organic. I wanted to work my way out of mistakes instead of being able to press a button and start all over. It’s interesting what can be made out of something that is not going the way you want. I was looking for a new challenge, I wanted to make art that committed me to my choices. I will still shoot with my camera, I need to work and I love photography, but everything works better in moderation. I can still shoot photos and now I have another outlet, doing this “scratch” art. 

Happiness Is.....

Everything new is influenced by the past. The decade of the 80’s is inspiring people to tap into what they idolized as kids. At least, that is what my generation is doing. I really loved this art class that I had in 2nd grade. We made art out of very simple materials, paper and crayons. It left a huge impression on me and now I find myself moved to express myself in that medium.

Lightening Strikes More Than Twice

The work I’m doing has many connections. There’s a personal connection tied to the motifs of the economy. When I was a kid my Dad took a buyout from Sears and Roebuck Co. before the recession of the early 1990’s. That had a huge impact on me growing up. We moved from the big city, Philadelphia, to Yorktown, VA. My dad’s home town. A very small town. That change of living really had a huge impact on who I am now. The recent economic crisis has brought back many of those same feelings and anxieties from my childhood, hence the crayons. It all seemed to come together and make perfect sense for me. 

A Necessary Sacrifice Question

Meredith Edlow

Wall Street

Posted by Orville Robertson

……….This was Wall Street when the workers were allowed to go out and get lunch. Now I suppose they chain them to their desks to squeeze out the last drop of blood profit.

To learn more about Orville Robertson’s work log on to www.newyorkstreetphotography.com.

Artwork: Downward Spiral By Meredith Edlow

Posted by John Grant

Why you can’t call a spade a spade in this country

An op-ed in the New York Times deals with one of the most vitally important issues Americans could get their minds around — the difference between an Empire and a Republic and just who are we as a people as we deal with two foreign wars and a job-devouring recession caused by financial delusion and chicanery. Unfortunately the topic is not treated totally seriously, and the notion of an American Empire is ridiculed. I’ve encountered this attitude in a running dialogue on the topic I had with Philadelphia Daily News columnist Stu Bykofsky. Stu sneers at the notion we’re an “empire.” He’s a decent guy, and I reduce his argument with me to: “OK, if we’re supposed to be this empire, where’s the emperor in a toga?” I may be obsessive, but I think it’s a good topic for serious discussion. It’s way too easy in the dumbed-down climate of debate in this nation to ridicule the notion of Empire and, thus, of course, avoid dealing with all the real historical and political decisions that lead to the real dynamics of our current reality that suck so much of the oxygen out of our capacity to solve neglected problems. The list is long; for starters there’s a loss of jobs, a lessening of competitiveness due to shortcomings in our education system, crumbling infrastructure and an over-dependency on oil versus developing alternative, green energies — all things we should have been investing more in for the past 40 years. Now, as we are funding two on-going wars, a Global War On Terror and a dismally failed Drug War, these neglected investments at home are coming home to roost. and unless we change, it will only get worse in the future.